Secretary of Energy Chu Visits Charleston, Discusses Carbon Capture

In an event co-sponsored by Robinson & McElwee, Secretary of Energy Chu came to town yesterday to talk about carbon sequestration, a process which would separate the carbon dioxide from power plant emissions and force it underground under great pressure in order to prevent its contribution to global warming. Grants are being given to WVU and other research institutions to investigate ways this can be accomplished. The Associated Press/WSAZ reports on it here. The Gazette and Daily Mail reports are not yet available.



Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is not easily accomplished. Not only is the technology involved in sequestering carbon difficult to implement on a large scale, there are improtant public policy issues to be resolved, such as who owns the underground geologic formations into which the carbon is sent, and will the costs of obtaining those rights cause CCS to be prohibitively expensive. The WV Legislature has a group studying the issue under the leadership of former DEP Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer, and anyone interested in the subject would benefit from a review of its preliminary report, released in July.

Kanawha River Clean Up Is This Weekend

The 21st annual Great Kanawha River Cleanup, sponsored by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, is scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 11.

Cleanup sites along the Kanawha River will include the beach at Winfield Locks; Roadside Park in St. Albans; Magic Island in Charleston; and Gauley Bridge (next to the former Save-A-Lot location).

Those wishing to volunteer are urged to register with the DEP so enough supplies can be obtained for each cleanup location. The DEP’s REAP program (Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan) will supply bags and gloves for volunteers and will arrange for trash to be hauled away.

Last year, close to 100 volunteers collected 6.15 tons of debris and 70 tires.

For more information or to register to volunteer, contact Travis Cooper at 304-926-0499 ext. 1117, or e-mail:

Travis.L.Cooper@wv.gov.

West Virginia Gas Industry Faces New Regulations

The natural gas drilling industry has grown in West Virginia since the development of the Marcellus Shale formation began a few years back. The Marcellus Shale is a geological formation that holds lots of natural gas, but that gas is tightly locked away, unlike conventional formations of, say, sandstone, where the gas can flow more easily through the pore space in the formation. Horizontal drilling and fracturing the formation along the drill hole has opened up huge areas to drilling in WV, PA and NY, but has also created concern among residents over water withdrawals, the use of fracking chemicals, and the size of drill sites. Horizontal wells require much larger pits to hold the water used for fracking, and for the produced water that comes out of the hole. It also means there are lots more trucks on smaller secondary roads, bringing heavy equipment and water into the drill site.

Last month Gov. Joe Manchin called together the industry and opponents to discuss the future of gas drilling, and announced there would be changes coming in the future. There was the implied threat that those who do not cooperate may see permits harder to come by. He's putting together a group to study possible changes and to make recommendations. As Gov. Manchin is widely expected to become Senator Manchin in November, he'll leave someone else to see this process to completion.

In the meantime, lots is going on. Here is a guidance from the Department of Highways on dealing with damages to roads and requiring bonds for possible road damage. Here is a report from the Associated Press regarding plans to increase the number of inspectors and other actions by the DEP, including a possible two-tier approach to permitting, one for smaller conventional wells and the other for larger horizontal wells. In addition, the Office of Oil and Gas recently took comment on revisions to its sediment and erosion control best management practices, and those will likely be changed in the near future to require additional pit construction controls and reclamation requirements for horizontal wells.

Judge Chambers Holds Mining Company in Contempt

Judge Robert C Chambers of the USDC for the S. Dist of WV has been hearing, and ruling intermittently on, a long-running citizen suit brought against Apogee Coal and Hobet Mining. Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, et al, v. Apogee Mining et al. His most recent ruling orders the coal companies to come into compliance with selenium limits at specified outfalls by Spring, 2013, and orders the installation of selenium treatment developed by their experts, CH2M Hill. A special master will be appointed to oversee the implementation of the selenium treatment.

The ruling is somewhat remarkable in that it holds Apogee in contempt for not exercising reasonable diligence in complying with an earlier order of the Court to install selenium treatment. The Court will consider what penalties to impose and whether to award attorneys fees and issue a ruling later this month.

Spark Iginition Engine NESHAPS Issued by EPA

Anne Blankenship reports that EPA has issued its final national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants for existing stationary spark ignition reciprocating internal combustion engines that either are located at area sources of hazardous air pollutant emissions or that have a site rating of less than or equal to 500 brake horsepower and are located at major sources

of hazardous air pollutant emissions. These types of engines are frequently used for natural gas compression on pipelines.

This final rule is effective on October 19, 2010. A summary of the final rule is attached. You can find the complete federal register publication of the final rule at this link: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-20298.htm

Coal Power Plant Construction Speeds Ahead

Roger Pielke Jr. reports on the increase in coal-burning power plants, both here and in China. A an editorial was in yesterday's Daily Mail. The Associated Press also has an article on the issue. Given the long lead time for these plants, one wonders if companies weren't trying to get coal-fired base load plants in place so they could be grandfathered under anticipated climate change legislation. It looks less and less likely like that will happen.

West Virginia DEP Issues Narrative Criteria Guidance for Surface Mines

The West Virginia Water quality standards, 47 CSR 2, provide limits on the amount of pollutants that are allowed in state waters. Some of those limits are set as numbers that are not to be exceeded, but there is a section that describes, in words, what conditions are not allowed, like color in the water, or toxic effects. That has always raised some questions as to implementation, particularly as the narrative criteria are being used by EPA to deny mountaintop removal permits. The DEP has now come out with a guidance for implementing the narrative standard for surface mines. Below is the DEP's press release.

As the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection committed to doing in March, the agency has developed a guidance document for implementing and enforcing West Virginia’s narrative water quality criteria. The guidance document was developed in accordance with parameters set forth in the federal Clean Water Act and applied through the West Virginia Water Pollution Control Act.

The guidance document is a tool to be used by the DEP to develop National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

(NPDES) permits for the coal mining industry. The goals of the document are to advance water quality and assure that surface mining operations are conducted in ways that protect the narrative water quality standards.

Comments submitted by members of the public, as well as data and studies conducted by DEP staff were used in the development of the guidance document.

“We trust that EPA will give deference to West Virginia’s guidance document, as it was created to satisfy requirements outlined in the Clean Water Act,” DEP Cabinet Secretary Randy Huffman said.

The guidance document addresses matters such as reasonable potential analyses for aquatic impacts downstream and extensive monitoring before and during mining to ensure that aquatic life use is being adequately protected.

“This document will result in changes that are markedly different from how mining has been conducted for the last 30 years,” Huffman said.

The DEP considers the guidance a dynamic document that will likely be modified in the future as technology and best management practices develop and improve.

In addition, while this document specifically addresses concerns related to the mining industry, it is designed to be adapted in the future to address all discharges to water bodies that will cause, or that have the reasonable potential to cause or contribute to, excursions from narrative water quality standards.

BACKGROUND

It became apparent in 2009 that the absence of a written plan to address narrative water quality criteria at the state level led the US Environmental Protection Agency to insert itself into the 404 and 402 permitting processes.

Not only is EPA exercising its veto authority, it has completely taken control of all water-related permitting for mining activities.

On April 1, when the EPA issued its “comprehensive guidance” regarding requirements of the 402 and 404 Clean Water Act permitting programs, it allowed for the states to establish their own requirements. That is what West Virginia is doing.

Huffman said, “We developed this guidance document for West Virginia in a manner that we are confident is consistent with the Clean Water Act.”

The guidance document, an accompanying justification and background document and the comments submitted by the public in March are available on the agency’s website at www.dep.wv.gov under the Permitting section of the home page.